Profile: Closer of the future” was a label attached frequently to Rex Brothers last season, and with a 13.06 strikeout rate that was seventh among relievers with at least 40 innings pitched, it’s not hard to see why. More than a quarter of the sliders he threw last year generated swings and misses, and he complements that with a 95-mph heater, a rarity from the left side. The plus heat and diminutive build evoke easy comparisons to Billy Wagner, though it may be another year or so before Brothers gets a shot at closing full-time. He could end up a poor-man’s Jonny Venters this season, as they share the penchant for high heat and high walk totals, but to date Venters has been much, much better at generating ground balls. But that the comparison can even evoked is eye opening -- Brothers has sleeper potential written all over him. (Paul Swydan)

The Quick Opinion: For the moment, Rafael Betancourt is the Rockies’ closer, but if he falters Brothers could be next in line for the job. Either way, the youngster should strike out enough batters to hold some fantasy value.

Profile: Betancourt wasn’t moved at the deadline, and in fact, the Rockies added more bullpen depth in the offseason when they traded for Wilton Lopez. Although the addition of Lopez may squeeze Brothers out of some holds, he still may earn some save opportunities against lefties. If your team can withstand the career WHIP-busting 4.74 walk rate, he may not be a bad one-dollar target late in your auctions for his 11.8 strikeout rate, 3.29 FIP and the potential for holds or saves. (Alan Harrison)

The Quick Opinion: Brothers’ name was mentioned as a potential replacement for closer Rafael Betancourt last season when the latter’s name surfaced as a potential trade target.

Profile: Brothers has now tossed at least 40 innings in each of the past three seasons, and in each of these seasons he has been dominant -- his FIP- has painted him as at least 22 percent better than league average in each season. In 2013, the Murfreesboro, Tenn., native even posted a shiny 1.74 ERA. He wasn't as good as that ERA mind you, but it was still nice and shiny. The Rockies were undaunted though, and they signed LaTroy Hawkins to hold down the closer role until Brothers is "ready." Since Brothers now has a 19 saves against two blown saves season on his ledger, it's hard to know what else he needs to in order to actually be ready, but that is neither here nor there. What is important is that Brothers should continue to be a very good pitcher. If there is one thing to keep an eye on it's the dip in his velocity -- he lost two mph on his fastball last year. Still, he was just as effective, as batters made contact against him nearly seven percent less than league average. Brothers should continue to miss bats, and while he is not as effective against righties as he is against lefties, his platoon split isn't in the territory where you have to worry about him against most right-handed hitters. He may not be someone you want to go hard on during your draft, but by the end of the season, Brothers should once again be racking up the saves.

The Quick Opinion: After he took the reins from a dilapidated Rafael Betancourt and saved 19 games last season, one would think the Rockies would have given Brothers full control of the bullpen reins. Unfortunately for fantasy owners who like things neat and tidy, that is not the case, and Brothers will likely share the job with LaTroy Hawkins, though it will certainly be Hawkins' to lose at the outset.

Profile: There will be few players looking forward to the 2015 season more than Rex Brothers, who flopped in 2014 about as badly as a player can flop. The year began with him ready to assume the closing duties from LaTroy Hawkins atanysecondnow! It ended with him pitching mop-up duty. In between, he regressed in just about every way possible. His swinging strike percentage was down, his zone percentage was down, his swing percentages were all down and his contact percentage was up. His velocity was also slightly down, and definitely down from 2011-12. Oh also, his strikeout, walk, strikeout-per-walk, WHIP, ERA, FIP and home run per fly ball numbers all went in the wrong direction. His batting average on balls in play was also a burden, but no more so than it was in 2011 and 2012 when he was still pitching at a high level. The good news is that there really isn't any reason why he can't recover and become the pitcher he was. Both ZiPS and Steamer like him for mild rebounds -- certainly they don't forecast him to bounce completely back, but the fact that any rebound is expected is a sign of hope. Whether or not you want to bank on his prior track record and said modicum of hope from the projections is going to depend on your risk profile, but the safe bet is to bypass Brothers on draft days and keep a watchful eye on him as the season starts. (Paul Swydan)

The Quick Opinion: The 2014 season was a disaster for Rex Brothers in every way imaginable, but the Rockies still have faith in him and he may rebound well. Nevertheless, he will hold very little value come draft day.

Profile: It's now been two solid years since Rex Brothers was considered Colorado's "closer of the future." The still-young lefty was supposed to take the gig away from the ageless Latroy Hawkins in 2014 and failed to do so. 2015 didn't go much better as Brothers spent the vast majority of the year putting up mediocre numbers in Triple-A. During his brief stint with the big club, he did post a shiny 0.95 ERA, but a high strand rate and zero homers per fly ball masked an ugly 5.49 xFIP (albeit in only 10.1 innings). The crux of Brothers' issues over the last few years stem from walks, as a guy who has generally had some degree of difficulty throwing strikes seems to have lost all command. Aside from the fact that he's now posting walk rates north of 15%, the bigger concern may be that his issues are no longer limited to the big leagues -- his minor league walk rate was an absurdly terrible 22%. The Rockies appear to have seen enough, releasing Brothers the week before Thanksgiving. Theo Epstein and the Cubs decided they want to try and work some magic, however, acquiring him and avoiding arbitration on a big league deal north of a million dollars. I wouldn't put too much stock into that valuation, however. Maybe Chris Bosio can work some magic, but rest assured, Brothers is behind a few arms at Wrigley and whatever gains you'll get in K's will bite you in WHIP. Leave him on the wire come draft day. (Colin Zarzycki)

The Quick Opinion: It's been quite a precipitous fall for Rex Brothers, considered the Rockies "next closer" just two years ago. He has always suffered from some control issues and they have gotten significantly worse since the start of the 2014 season. Now in Chicago, the Cubs hope Brothers can reign in some of the wildness, but he's got a long ladder to climb to get back to fantasy relevance.

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